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Snivy Line/B2W2
The Snivy line is available from Bianca as a starter in Aspertia City. Considering its unfavorable matchups against 6 out of the 8 gyms and the plethora of Poison-types used by Team Plasma, the Snivy line is generally considered the worst of the three Unova starters, and sometimes even one of the worst Grass-types in the game. However, what the Snivy line has over the other two starters (and most Grass-types in Unova as well) is access to arguably the best boosting move in the game: Coil. With 75 base Attack and 95 base Defense backed by an impressive 113 base Speed stat, the royal grass-snake is a powerful setup sweeper. The additions to its formerly poor movepool thanks to the new Move Tutors ensure that, despite its issues, the Snivy line is a competent choice. Unfortunately, its positives do not save it from being the worst of the Unova starters, and it only gets worse in Challenge Mode. Important Matchups - Challenge Mode = * Hugh (Aspertia Outlook): It's still your standard Tackle fest, however this fight is a nightmare due to Tepig's higher offensive ability and because it is a level higher than you. There is a decent chance you will lose this fight, simply due to being outleveled and outgunned. * Hugh (Floccesy Ranch): Again this is simply a higher leveled version of the Normal/Easy mode version, Tepig still has Ember and it will ruin Snivy if you are suicidal enough to send the grass snake at his starter. * Gym #1 - Cheren (Aspertia City, Normal-type): Lillipup is an even bigger brick wall due to its higher Level and Oran Berry, meaning that not only does it withstand punishment from Snivy better but is even more of a threat after a few Work Ups. You can still attempt a counter setup against both Patrat and Lillipup with Growth but the addition, Pidove, is dangerous due to having both Work Up and Quick Attack in order to hammer Snivy. * Gym #2 - Roxie (Virbank City, Poison-type): Snivy/Servine is still utter dead weight here as all three of her Pokémon, the two returning from Normal mode and the newcomer Grimer all having ways to poison you before nailing you with full power Venoshocks while ignoring both the resisted Leaf Tornado and not-maxed-out Returns. Whirlipede is also safe from being picked off by Servine due to its Sitrus Berry, and Koffing can restore some health through the Oran Berry it holds to completely ignore Snivy's/Servine's feeble attempts at cracking these bulky Poison Pokémon. * Gym #3 - Burgh (Castelia City, Bug-type): Dwebble could potentially be a threat through having Rock Blast and a Sitrus Berry to withstand the neutral Leaf Tornadoes, with Sturdy ignoring criticals in your favour. Shelmet is rather resilient to Return especially due to Curse raising its Defense, and Struggle Bug actually doing decent damage from it. Leavanny is no longer safe to pursue due to having super effective Aerial Ace to smash Servine with its high level and Sitrus Berry allowing it to shrug off Return. Karrablast is also rather bulky and has Aerial Ace as well, to ruin the Grass starter's day, just keep it away from this fight. * Colress (Route 4): Servine still can't do crap to either of his Steel-types outside of Leech Seed. SonicBoom and Gear Grind will also do a decent amount of damage, meaning that even attempting to stall these two is unadvised. * Gym #4 - Elesa (Nimbasa City, Electric-type): As with the prequels, stay away from Emolga. Zebstrika can be dealt with by Leaf Tornado (or Leaf Blade if you're overleveled), but Flame Charge will hurt and will allow it to outspeed you and deal the finishing blow; Zebstrika's Flame Charge is probably going to be a 2HKO or 3HKO on Servine. Thankfully, Elesa dropped one of her Emolgas in the two year skip for a Flaaffy, which can either hit with Take Down, which whittles itself down alongside the damage it deals you, or Volt Switch, which allows it to switch into one the other two, provided they're still standing. Be careful of Static if you're going to try taking it down with physical moves; otherwise, just watch out for Thunder Wave. Her new Pokémon is a Joltik, which will take a Return with ease before responding with STAB X-Scissor to ruin Servine's day. * Rood (Driftveil City): Like Normal Mode, Herdier's Intimidate should cause a struggle for a physical attacking Servine. Besides Work Up, you should have little trouble if you prepared for Elesa. Swoobat should still be avoided, not that it's a bit stronger. * Gym #5 - Clay (Driftveil City, Ground-type): Krookodile will withstand one Leaf Blade through a combination of Intimidate and its Sitrus Berry. It will also set up Sandstorm if you let it and given what his ace is, you really do not want that to occur. Sandslash can benefit if Sand is getting everywhere due to Sand Veil, making any attempts at hitting it with Leaf Tornado an RNG-fest of pain, especially due to Crush Claw hurting off its high attack stat. Onix has Sturdy and Stealth Rocks, while this isn't too much of an issue if your attempting to solo Clay with Servine/Serperior, it will be if Excadrill forces a switch/beats the grass snake. It has Metal Claw, Bulldoze, Rock Slide and Slash and has the Sand Force ability. Three of these are powered up as a result of being in a Sandstorm. Excadrill also hits like a truck and is neutral to Grass, as well as holding a Sitrus Berry. Good luck if you have to face it with its weather up. Otherwise, Serperior should be able to handle it, but Servine will just get overwhelmed. * Hugh (Pokémon World Tournament): Challenge Mode does not change the levels of the NPCs from 25, read Normal Mode's guides for the three World Tournament trainers. If you trained up to scale with Clay's Excadrill, then Serperior can cautiously Coil setup on these guys. * Cheren (Pokémon World Tournament, Normal-type): If you trained up to scale with Clay's Excadrill, then Serperior can cautiously Coil setup on these guys. Otherwise, read Normal Mode if Servine. * Colress (Pokémon World Tournament): Coil Serperior only. * Gym #6 - Skyla (Mistralton City, Flying-type): Don't. * Hugh (Undella Town): Simipour, only. * Zinzolin (Lacunosa Town, tag battle with Hugh): If you are up to the levels, Serperior can pull off a fast one with its 'PHYSICAL' STAB moves on Cryogonal and Sneasel. Golbat and Garbodor should be off-limits. * Gym #7 - Drayden (Opelucid City, Dragon-type): Dragon Pulse Serperior can handle Druddigon and Flygon, but avoid Altaria and Haxorus. Altaria has Fire Blast, and Haxorus now has X-Scissor which it can boost. * Zinzolin (Opelucid City): Serperior can handle the two Cryogonal by outspeeding it and hitting hard, but Weavile is now probably faster than it. Not only that, but it has Ice Shard and Night Slash. You can try with Coil setup on the Cryogonal to prepare, but that gives them an opportunity to Ice Beam you, confuse you, or setup a Screen. You can try setting up Screens on them should you really want to solo with Serperior. Leaf Blade on Cryogonal, because that SpDef is a huge risk. Avoid Weavile, though you can hit hard should you survive an attack. * Shadow (Opelucid City): Pawniard is a stallfest, so don't bother. Absol while it can hit hard, is slow and frail so you can take advantage of that. * Gym #8 - Marlon (Humilau City, Water-type): Carracosta is a joke, hit it with a STAB move. Wailord and Mantine have Ice Beam now, but you can outspeed both. Leaf Blade or Coil setup on Carracosta is ideal, against Wailord. Against Mantine, watch out for Air Slash and Ice Beam. It's neutral to Grass, so hit its weaker Defense stat with STAB. Jellicent is a joke, in that none of its moves should hurt you too much unless Shadow Ball or Scald gets lucky. Recover can however, turn the match into a stallfest. * Zinzolin (Plasma Frigate, tag battle with Hugh): Another tag battle alongside your rival. As with the other two fights, Serperior, regardless if it's yours or your rival's, will again outpace and ruin the fragile Ice types fielded against you. Ice Shard from Weavile is still a potential threat. Zinzolin's buddy's Pokémon struggle to get past Emboar. * Zinzolin (Plasma Frigate): In the fourth fight, Zinzolin's Pokémon are slightly stronger than in the previous battle, but the basics remain the same: Cryogonal can be outsped, but run away from Weavile. * Colress (Plasma Frigate): Beheeyem is the only thing Serperior can hope to kill, unless you have Hidden Power Fire. Even if that were the case, Magnezone can explode and Klinklang can set up Shift Gear. * Shadow battle #1 (Plasma Frigate): The Pawniards are still problematic to handle due to their high Defense and plethora of resistances. Absol is the exact same as before. * Shadow battle #2 (Plasma Frigate): Another couple of Pawniard to ruin Serperior's day. Accelgor is an insanely fast special attacking Bug-type, so stay the hell away from it. * Shadow battle #3 (Plasma Frigate): Again, Pawniard in the lead, you know what to do. Banette has Will-o-Wisp so that it can be annoying. Serperior can be used in this battle, but you need to pick your targets carefully. * Black/White Kyurem (Giant Chasm): Like in Normal Mode, you can manipulate the battle with Dragon Tail as the Ice moves take two turns. However do not try if you are in White 2 against White Kyurem, as Fusion Flare can kill. * Ghetsis (Giant Chasm): Cofagrigus has bulk and stalls, so you might want to hit it with a different Pokemon. Seismitoad isn't so much of a threat even if it has Sludge Wave, because it is slower than Serperior. Don't bother with Eelektross, Drapion, Toxicroak, or Hydreigon unless you have set up prior those four. * Hugh (Victory Road): Simipour. All of his team has at least on Super Effective move on you. * Elite Four Shauntal (Pokémon League, Ghost-type): Cofagrigus stalls, but you can set up with caution as long as Psychic or Shadow Ball don't get SpDef lowers. Otherwise, get a Dark or Ghost Pokemon. Drifblim should be avoided at all costs, given Flying Gem Acrobatics and resistance to STAB. Golurk can be outsped and dealt easy with, but Heavy Slam will hurt if it survives. Banette is slow and easy to deal with, but Sucker Punch has a free throw. Shauntal is playing competitive with her Chandelure, it has Choice Scarf. The scarf boosts Speed by 50%, meaning Chandelure has base 120 speed effectively. And you know what it will strike first with, Fire Blast. * Elite Four Marshal (Pokémon League, Fighting-type): Setting up on Throh or Sawk is effectively the best way to deal with Marshall, so that you can deal with them faster and his next batch. Mienshao has two Super Effective moves on Serperior, so use someone else if no Coil. Lucario with no boosts is a stallfest, and it can Calm Mind to boost its Special Attacks. Conkeldurr also plays competitively, with Guts and Flame Orb. You can outspeed, but be sure to have been boosted enough to deal with it. * Elite Four Grimsley (Pokémon League, Dark-type): You outspeed Liepard, but it can do its job with Normal Gem Fake Out. After that, hit it hard because it has Aerial Ace. Scrafty has Poison Jab and is much bulkier, so you may want to switch for this. Krookodile has Intimidate, so either switch or rely on Special Attacks. Better yet, Krookodile is your best shot at Coil set up as it has no Super Effective attacks. Absol has X-Scissor, but you outspeed. Don't even touch Bisharp, it has both X-Scissor and Aerial Ace. * Elite Four Caitlin (Pokémon League, Psychic-type): Musharna will stall the match with Hypnosis and Reflect, so be careful if setting up or kill it fast. Siglyph has Ice Beam and Air Slash, so don't bother. Reuniclus has high SpAtk, but you can try to set up on here if you plan to. Gothitelle can also work as setup bait, but Calm Mind is not a joke. Her strongest this time is now Metagross, and Steel types are no friend of Serperior. * Champion Iris (Pokémon League, Dragon-type): Hydreigon's Fire Blast will kill this time, and Druddigon's Fire Punch has a chance to as well. Avoid both, as you can only rely on Dragon Pulse or Tail to do Super Effective damage. You can try to outspeed Archeops, but Flying Gem Acrobatics will hurt a lot even under Defeatist. Aggron can be slowly weakened with neutral STAB or Aqua Tail, but watch out for Double Edge or its STABs. Lapras despite being weak to Grass, can now kill with Blizzard. Be cautious on this one, as it can trap you with Sing. Haxorus like Drayden's, has X-Scissor and Dragon Dance. Iris' team was not really made for Serperior to solo, so using other Pokemon is the best choice to end the battle quicker and safer. * Post-Game: Unfortunately, not much kinder than the rest of the game to Serperior, though the Coil setup still has some use. }} Moves Snivy starts with Tackle and Leer when first obtained. At level 7, it gains STAB in the form of Vine Whip. Wrap at level 10 is relatively useless at this point, due to being utterly outclassed by Tackle and even latter on, the line is better off with other moves. Level 13 results in your Snivy learning Growth, which is invaluable for shoring up the line's middling offensives early on. At level 16, Snivy learns what will be its main STAB move for a decent while, Leaf Tornado. As a Servine, the first move your starter gets is Leech Seed at level 20. This is a powerful option due to providing both chip damage and a little bit of recovery each turn. Speaking of moves with a healing property, Mega Drain arrives at level 24 and provides a solid secondary STAB option. Slam at level 28 is likely outclassed by Return at this point and is not worth the 75% hit rate. Leaf Blade at level 32 is one essential move that your soon to be Serperior needs if it wants to be in an attacking role on your team. The other, the move that sets Serperior apart from all other Grass-types and starter in general, arrives just before your Servine evolves: Coil. Now fully evolved, Serperior opens up with trying to relearn Coil at level 38 if you did not teach it the first time and then gets Giga Drain at level 44, which is a straight upgrade over Mega Drain if you are going down a more supporting route with the regal grass snake. Unfortunately, the remaining moves that Serperior have to offer are Wring Out at level 50, which is problematic in concept due to weakening if the foe has taken damage, Gastro Acid, learnt at level 56, which besides the one Bouffalant you fight in the story, has no real purpose. However Leaf Storm, which comes at level 62, may have use as a fire and forget tool on physical builds in the post-game. Through TMs, Serperior gains a array of moves, albeit of varying degrees of utility. Moves of note include Return, Dragon Tail, Aerial Ace, Hidden Power (preferably Ice, Rock or Fire-typed) and Energy Ball for offensive options, widening the range of types Serperior can hit or providing alternative special STAB in the later's case. In regards to support moves, Serperior gets the standard package of Light Screen, Reflect, Toxic and Taunt. As a result of the move tutors, Serperior finds a treasure trove of new options. These include Aqua Tail, Iron Tail and Dragon Pulse (RIP Outrage, post-game only) to further extend Serperior's ability to fight as well as Synthesis for a third way of healing. Of course as a fully evolved starter Pokémon, it gets both Frenzy Plant and Grass Pledge but these are not worth the investment. Recommended movesets: Standard: Coil, Leaf Blade, Aqua Tail, Leech Seed/Return/Dragon Tail/Iron Tail Support: Giga Drain, Light Screen, Reflect, Leech Seed. Recommended Teammates *'Rock-types:' Serperior is a pure Grass-type. They tend to have a large number of weaknesses. Thankfully pretty much all of them, minus Ice, are dealt with by Rock-type Pokémon in some way or another. Another benefit is that they tend to be effective at dealing with Bouffalant, who would ruin Serperior due to Sap Sipper, due to their traditionally high physical defense. Serperior also patches up their exploitable Water, Grass and Ground-type weaknesses in exchange. **''A few examples include:'' ''Gigalith'', Crustle, Aggron and Probopass. *'Water-types:' These two types have always shared a great deal of synergy, with Water Pokémon protecting their Grass-type friends from Fire and Ice-type moves while clipping Flying-types with Ice moves of their own. As a result of the mutual relationship, Serperior becomes a shield against opposing Grass and Electric-types. **''A few examples include:'' ''Golduck'', Azumarill, Vaporeon, Jellicent, Floatzel and Starmie. *'Strong attackers:' While Serperior requires a more careful, thought out, play-style to be effective, there are times where the game simply does not give you a chance to try and set up. Serperior's base 75 in both attacking stats are somewhat underwhelming without boosts, so it may be worthwhile ensuring that it is accompanied by Pokémon that can hit hard off the get go. **''A few examples include:'' ''Chandelure'', Heracross, Electivire, Reuniclus, Haxorus and Krookodile. Other Snivy's stats Servine's stats Serperior's stats * What Nature do I want? Adamant is your best bet if you're planning on using a mostly physical moveset (e.g. Leaf Blade, Aqua Tail, Return, Dragon Tail), as Serperior outspeeds most Pokémon in-game and needs the added power. Extra Speed is unneeded, since Serperior is already very fast. Lowering its defenses is also fine, as Serperior is already very bulky. Getting a boost to one of its attacking stats is ideal. * At what point in the game should I be evolved? You should have a Servine shortly after you beat the first gym. You should probably have a Serperior around Chargestone Cave or Mistralton City. There's no point in delaying evolution at all with this little snake. * How good is the Snivy line in a Nuzlocke? While the beginning of the game and the large gap between badges 6 and 7 are tough times for the grass snake, beyond this, the line truly shines if you play it to its strengths. It has enough bulk to be able to get a lot of set up opportunities and the Speed to quickly snipe weakened threats with strong moves. Serperior can't be simply thrown at foes in the way Roserade, Lilligant, and Sawsbuck can be; it doesn't have any insane stats that will allow it to swiftly eradicate the opposition. Rather, it requires a slower, more strategic approach, but if used correctly, Serperior can be a blast to use outside of the problem areas. If you don't use it correctly, though, it can be slightly underwhelming. * Weaknesses: Fire, Flying, Bug, Ice, Poison * Resistances: Water, Grass, Electric, Ground * Immunities: None * Neutralities: Dragon, Dark, Psychic, Fighting, Ghost, Rock, Normal, Steel Category:Black 2/White 2 Category:List of Evolutionary Lines with Completed Analyses